


Pretend

by Melody_Murder



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: ....who the heck knows how this story will go, Angst, F/M, Kylo is a big cry baby, Mei really gets on Matt's nerves sometimes, Sarcasm, that 'oh fuck' moment when you realize you have feelings for someone, witty humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-09-01 03:38:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8605810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melody_Murder/pseuds/Melody_Murder
Summary: He did not intend for it to go this far.





	

"Hey, Em, hand me that Phillips, would ya?"

The droid made a sighing noise," I suppose I will. Those two meters you would have to walk look far too exhausting for you to walk yourself."

Mei rolled her eyes,"Don't make me regret salvaging your metal butt, E-3."

"I would prefer if you addressed me with my proper designation," the silver droid said, ignoring her previous remark.

"You would prefer lots of things, I'm sure, like not being scrapped like I was ordered to do."

Mei had been introduced to the droid when she had been sent down to her shop to be destroyed. A few higher-ups had gotten sick of the interpreter's attitude during a particular meeting and abused her. After sustaining quite the beating, the 3PO model was sent for dismantling instead of reprogramming. She had checked the droid's record and was astonished by the fact Em had been sent to have her artificial brain probed a total of eleven times in an attempt to squander her stubborn personality. None of them had worked, though, which was why the droid had a permanent home here, in Mei's own workshop. Instead of scrapping the willful hunk of junk, the mechanic fixed her up and gave her a place in the ever-growing family of the shop. E-3PO, or Em, as the redhead liked to call her, was a lot like a thirteen-year-old girl with all the snarky remarks and complaints as an organic young teen. There were times when Mei could understand her previous master's strife.

The droid made another intelligible noise, something Em did a lot and held the tool out.

"Thank you, Em," the young woman said a bit absentmindedly as she peered into the inner workings of an unfortunate sanitation unit.

"You're welcome," the droid sniffed before wandering off to do something better with her time, as she so kindly informed her savior.

With a sigh, Mei continued work on the little droid in front of her. She pounded out the dents in his outer shell and was halfway through installing a new memory drive when something cool bumped into her leg with a little chirrup.

"Hi, Devin," she said with a tight smile, her mind was preoccupied with what had happened to the poor soul on the table in front of her.

**"Was it** _**him** _ **again?" the** **droid** **beeped** **curiously.**

"Yeah, it was," she answered sullenly," got this little guy real good."

**"Why does he hate us?"**

**Mei's** **head snapped back to the R8 unit, surprised at the question.**

She put her screwdriver down before crouching down in front of the droid," I don't think he hates droids at all, Dev. I think he gets angry and whatever he sees he takes his anger out on, whether it's a room of computer monitors, a couple stormtroopers or- "

**"Or a** **droid** **?" he offered.**

"Yeah," the redhead confirmed," droids too."

**"What is that one?"**

"This little guy? He's a G2 repair droid," she turned the inactive thing around," designation G2-U1," she read off of a small metal plate.

**"Will he stay with us?" the** **droid** **inquired** **hopefully.**

"Yeah, when I fix 'em up he'll be good as new and you'll have someone to talk to who isn't so -"

**"Mean?"**

Mei chuckled at the offended noise Em made from the other side of the shop.

"I am not 'mean' R2-D7. I merely inform you and our master of the truth," the interpreter huffed.

Mei eventually tuned out the two bickering droids and set back to work. An hour or so later, she put the repair droid back together and grinned widely as she plugged him up to charge. The low battery light glowed to life, indicating that his battery was slowly regaining power. A noise sounded from her data pad in the next room.

"You have a message, Mei," Em announced before shoving the device into her oily hands," You should really take better care of yourself. You look like you just climbed out of a trash compactor."

Green eyes narrowed," Need I remind you that you almost ended up in one?"

The silver droid made a noise and retreated haughtily into a backroom. With a sigh, Mei opened up her messenger application and when she read the notification the sigh turned into a frustrated screech. Again, he had done it _again_. Another poor droid hacked to pieces because Kylo fucking Ren couldn't stop himself from acting like a five-year-old that stubbed his toe. He should just change his name to _Crylo_ Ren as a sort of warning. She sent a confirmation before sitting her data pad on the counter next to the charging droid and wiping the oil off of her hands.

"I'm heading out, guys. See you in a bit," she called back.

"It is not time for your break yet," Em replied promptly," you still have fifteen minutes before the midday meal."

"I know," Mei huffed," One of the technician supervisors saw a droid in sector 4-C that the Commander had got a hold of. I have to go pick it up for repairs and have it working again within the week."

"He is such a brute," the droid sniffed," General Hux wasn't nearly as a destructive monster as the Commander is."

Mei grabbed her cart and set off, doors opening automatically as she neared them. Soon, she was weaving through well-lit grey and chrome corridors and dodging other workers. The droid in 4-C had gotten lucky for the most part, only it's arms had been sheared off, but it tore at her heart to see the little thing darting about wildly, trying to pick up various pieces of garbage only to realize that it didn't have any appendages.

She cleared her throat and the sanitation droid swiveled to look at her with a series of frantic beeps.

**"Why can't I pick things up?! Some** **thing hit me and I can't pick things up!"**

The droid tried yet again to take hold of a discarded piece of paper but the socket where his arm was just sparked. The thing let out a screech.

"Woah," she said gently," Panicking isn't gonna reattach your arms."

"Here," Mei leaned down and picked up the paper, shoving it into the nearest trash bin as she caught sight of its identification plate," Now it's gone, MSE-270."

**"Who are you?"**

"I'm Mei, and I'm going to fix you up. Think you can roll up on that cart for me?"

**"Will I be able to move things again?" The** **droid** **inquired** **.**

"Yes, you'll be able to move things again."

The droid drove up the ramp and onto the cart where the mechanic pulled a strap across its boxy exterior and loaded the defunct appendages on a side container. The two made idle conversation as Mei wheeled the cart back across the base, glad that the poor thing had momentarily forgotten the loss of its arms as it chirruped excitedly about what it did on a day to day basis. It was explaining hazardous waste protocols when modulated laughter rang out in the silent corridor.

The mechanic peered around a corner and was horrified to see a small group of stormtroopers clustered around a single technician. One reared his leg back as the orange-vested man reached for a tool and kicked it.

"Hey, you've kicked my wrench!" He protested angrily.

The tool skidded to a stop about a foot away from Mei. She picked it up with a scowl as the troopers laughed once more at the technicians' expense.

"Hey, asshats, don't you have something to shoot and miss?"

"Not for a couple more hours, little lady," one responded smoothly.

"With a couple training droids, I'm sure." The redhead stated innocently.

"Yeah, they're pret-"

"It would be a shame, I think, if they malfunctioned and fried a whole squadron of troopers like yourselves because of a minor programming error."

"Are you threatening my troops?" The man demanded, his demeanor changing entirely.

"No," Mei shot back,"I'm promising that to them in the event that you _ever_ bother him again."

The technician on the floor made a noise as the trooper stepped closer and started to speak," What makes you th-"

"Sir, that's the head droid technician." Another white armored soldier butted in, showing him something on a datapad.

Her credentials, no doubt.

Mei smiled," I could program your shower units to boil you alive."

There was a brief moment of silence before the trooper in charge ordered his men to move out, leaving the two alone.

"Jerkfaces," the tech muttered.

"Yeah," Mei agreed as she handed him his wrench back," troopers are all talk, though, if you ignore 'em they'll eventually leave you alone."

"I'm Mei, by the way. I work with the droids."

"My name's Matt. I'm a radar technician," the blonde man recited.

It sounded like the poor thing had practiced that line in front of a mirror in case anyone ever asked about him.

"Are you new here? I don't think I've ever seen you around."

Matt nodded," I just finished my training courses a couple days ago."

He put his wrench back in his tool box after placing the panel back in the wall.

"What about you? How long have you been working on Starkiller?" He inquired suddenly.

"Oh," Mei blinked, startled by the tech's intense gaze," I've been here for a couple years."

"So, you know about Kylo Ren?"

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion,"Yeah, I've heard about him. Why?"

The droid on her cart beeped suddenly, interrupting Matt and reminding the woman of the job at hand,"Hey, I've got to go but it was nice talking to you, Matt."

"Uh, you too," he got out eventually as the girl scurried back to what he saw to be a cart.

She waved and smiled brightly at the technician as she pushed the droid down the corridor and he blinked in surprise. He didn't think anyone had ever smiled at him and actually meant it during his time with the First Order.

Mei apologized to MSE-270," Sorry, Missy, I didn't forget about you. I promise."

**"Where did you go?"**

The redhead typed in her access code and entered the workshop," Someone was in trouble so I went to help them."

**"Like you came to help me?" The** **droid** **questioned curiously.**

"Yep."

**"Did you have to reattach their arms too?" It chirped.**

"No," she replied with a little snort," I didn't have to reattach his arms."

\------------

 

 

Fun Fact: E-3PO droids are actually a thing! They are rare and come with state of the art technology but tend to develop a haughty and superior personality. You can learn more about them on Wookiepedia, the Star Wars Wiki.

 


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